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Digital Histology: An Interactive CD Atlas With Review Text

2006; American Medical Association; Volume: 130; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5858/2006-130-904-dhaica

1543-2165

Nazila Hejazi,

AI in cancer detection

By Alice S. Pakurar and John W. Bigbee, 226 pp, with illus, Hoboken, NJ, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2004.Digital Histology is a well-designed tool for learning histology. The CD accompanying the book contains more than 700 outstanding light and electron microscopic images, each with superimposable labels and descriptive legends. It also provides an interactive, annotated, digital atlas of histologic images, ensuring that each reader can identify microscopic structures even without the aid of an instructor. The CD text and images follow the accompanying book outline, which is similar to presentation of material in a histology course. The virtual slides can be zoomed in and out to simulate the correct way of approaching slides under a microscope. The quizzes at the end of each chapter enable self-assessment for the reader.Chapter 1 encloses information regarding various stages of treatments that tissues must undergo to be visualized under light and electron microscopes. This information is essential to understand the basic concepts and processes in histology, and is not always found in other histology books. It would have been even more helpful if the CD contained animations of the steps in tissue preparation. The authors touch on the basics of artifacts present as a result of tissue processing and also describe properties of different microscopes, such as light field, electron, and scanning electron. Chapter 2 provides insight into the various structures found in different cells. It also discusses interphase and dividing phases of the cell cycle. Different types of epithelial tissue, glands, and cell junctions are discussed well in chapter 3. Chapter 4 deals with connective tissues and their functions. Connective tissues with special properties, including adipose, blood, reticular, and mucoid connective tissues, are briefly discussed in this chapter as well.Chapters 5 to 8 describe supporting connective tissues, including cartilage and bone, blood and hematopoiesis, and muscle tissue and nervous tissue, and provide some insight into their physiology. Valuable and easy-to-follow information about the embryologic concept of body formation and basic terminologies used in histology is found in chapter 9. Various organs and systems, including cardiovascular, skin, digestive, respiratory, lymphoid, urinary, endocrine, female and male reproductive systems, and eye and ear, are substantially reviewed in the remaining chapters.This book's utility is greatly enhanced by organization of the images contained in the CD, which permits readers to target specific structures or cells quickly by clicking on them. The same tissues and cells were highlighted multiple times in different slides of different organs shown on the CD, facilitating the learning of histology, which involves repetition. The accompanying CD uses virtual slides, a system that does not require a microscope. Unfortunately, there was only one virtual slide displaying kidney tissue, and there were no virtual slides for other organs.Although medical students and pathology residents are the primary audience for this book, it would be a useful tool for those who teach histology courses. This book/CD combination takes a new approach in teaching histology by being interactive and using advanced technologies. The only drawback is that the book would be of little use without the CD because most of the illustrations are contained on the CD.